


Imagined Sins

by angry_ace



Series: Visiting Family [2]
Category: Garden Heights Universe - Angie Thomas, On the Come Up - Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give (2018), The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas
Genre: F/M, Meet the Family, Prison, visiting family in prison
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-30
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2020-11-08 20:28:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20841539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angry_ace/pseuds/angry_ace
Summary: Bri, Curtis, and Sister Daniels visit Curtis' mom in prison.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'M NOT LATE. HA!

A long car ride with your boyfriend, and his grandmother on your way to state prison to visit his incarcerated mother isn’t anyone’s idea of romance. But a relationship requires commitment and being there for your partner or partners for the things that are less than pretty in addition to the pretty.

Bri kept her hand in Curtis’. If Sister Daniels minded, she didn’t say so. Curtis hadn't seen his mother in years, and Bri could practically feel his anxiety rolling off him in waves, she was glad to be able to comfort him through the handholding. She was attempting to read her SAT prep book. Despite the assumption that she was a “hood rat”, she was a hood rat whose grades had never dropped below a 3.8 GPA. She put down her study book and rested her head on his shoulder.

“You good babe?”

“Yeah. You?”

“Of course, I’m with you.”

He wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

Bri didn’t remember falling asleep, but she woke up when they were parking at the prison. She blinked sleep from her eyes, and saw Curtis’ gazing out the car window, having extricated himself from her at some point during her nap. His body was tense.

She placed a hand on his shoulder, rather than relaxing him, he only seemed to become more anxious.

“It’s okay Curtis,” she promised.

He didn’t reply.

Sister Daniels said, “Listen to your girl Curtis, your mom will be nothing but happy to see you again.”

Curtis mumbled something unintelligible.

“What was that?”

“Nothing Grandma.”

“Hmph.”

They got out of the car. Bri caught up to Curtis and took his hand. “What happened with you mom isn’t your fault, she whispered, and even if it is, she’d forgive you.”

“I don’t deserve her forgiveness.”

“That’s because you didn’t do anything wrong.” He looked at her with watery eyes. “Anyways, you’re talking to the queen of fucking up your relationship with your mom.”

“It’s not the same.”

“Isn’t it?”

Curtis thought on this as they entered the prison, but at least this time he didn’t pull his hand out of hers.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Curtis and his mom talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone is staying safe right now in regards to Covid-19. It feels good to update a fic.

Curtis was older than she remembered him being.  _ Of course he is _ , and internal voice reminded her,  _ it’’s been years. My baby’s grown up,  _ she thought _ , and he brought a girl with him. _ Deja watched as her baby boy walked towards her, along with his father’s judgy mom, and a girl she’d never met.

  
  


She wanted to leap up and meet her boy halfway across the room to make up for him having to meet her in prison, the epitome of meeting her in the end-zone, but she didn't want to risk alarming the guards and having their negative attention fall on her or her family. She forced herself to sit still and hoped that it didn’t come off as indifference to her son, she knew it would to his grandmother, and didn’t care if it did to Curtis’ girlfriend. She offered her son a wan smile, all she had to give.

“Momma,” Curtis said, standing near her. He looked as though he wasn’t sure what to do with his hands. This is usually the point where a mother and son hug would hug. They would hug now if this were the movies. Deja couldn’t even be sure that her son wanted to hug her, or wanted anything to do with her. Even if Curtis did want to embrace his mother after so many years, the guards wouldn’t allow it.

  
  


Not for the first time since her arrest did it seem to Deja that being in prison meant like being treated like less than human, especially being black in prison.

  
  


Curtis sat down.

  
  


“It’s good to see you baby.”

  
  


“It’s good to see you too, Ma.”

  
  


“How you been?”

  
  


“Fine.”

  
  


“Just fine? I haven’t seen you in years and you’re just fine?”

  
  


“And who’s fault is it that you ain’t seen Curtis in years Deja? It’s not his,” Mrs. Daniels retorted in a misguided attempt to defend her grandson.

  
  


“Grandma please,” Curtis said, hoping to cool his grandmother’s usually much cooler temper. He knew she wasn’t being malicious, but that she felt protective when it came to her grandson.

  
  


“Sister Daniels,” Curtis’ girlfriend cut in gently and politely, “Why don’t you and I take a walk down to the visitor’s center and get a snack.

  
  


“I’m not hungry.”

  
  


“Well I am, and I’d love your company.”

  
  


“Alright,” Sister Daniels conceded.

  
  


Curtis’ girlfriend and his grandmother rose from their seats, leaving Deja alone with her son. Finally, alone with him for the first time in years. Though even this privacy was a falseness, there were inmates, guards. Deja had a beautiful vision of her and her son as a boy in their apartment. She was making mac and cheese while he colored some  _ Sesame Street _ character at the kitchen table, with his fro haloing his head like an angel. His father wasn’t around, but it was alright. Deja wondered what it would look like to make dinner for her son now. He’d probably be working on some smarty pants homework instead of coloring Elmo, homework she’d look at and immediately get a headache from. She wishes that could be their future, but knew it was probably too late.

  
  


“Mom!” Curtis interrupted her daydream. “Have you been listening to me?”

  
  


“Sorry honey, I’m a bit zoned out right now.”

  
  


He looked crushed.

  
  


“Is that your girlfriend?” she asked, trying to cheer him up.

  
  


“Yeah… her name is Bri.”

  
  


“She seems nice.”

  
  


“Yeah, she’s great.”

  
  


“But you didn’t visit me to talk about your girlfriend.”

  
  


“Sure I did.”

  
  


Confusion flashed across Deja’s face. “Is she pregnant?”

  
  


“No ma, nothing like that!”

  
  


“Then what’d you mean?”

  
  


“I want you to be a part of my life again. I want you to know about what’s important to me!”

  
  


Deja reached for her son’s hand, before withdrawing quickly.

  
  


“Sorry,” she whispered, trying not to think about the guards watching her and her son. “You know I wish I could.”

  
  


“‘Hold my hand, or be a part of my life?”

  
  


“Both,” Deja answered with a choked sound in her voice. She quickly wiped her eyes.

  
  


“You  _ can _ be a part of my life; that’s why I’m here, Ma.”

  
  


“Would you tell me about it? Tell me about your life?”

  
  


“Of course Ma.” Curtis smiled, “that’s just what I wanted”. “You know I live with Grandma.”

  
  


“Oh I know,” Deja replied.

  
  


“Don’t judge her too much. She’s done a great job raising me.”

  
  


Deja didn’t know if the  _ unlike her _ she felt like he didn’t tack on was just her own self-loathing, or if he meant for her to hear it. It wasn’t as though she knew her son well enough to know if he would say things—or not say things—with the purpose of hurting his mother.

“I do like living with her. She sends me to this school outside the Garden.”

  
  


“Do you like it there?”

  
  


“It’s alright.”

  
  


“Just alright?”

  
  


“Yeah. Just alright.”

  
  


“You must have friends there though.”

  
  


“Yeah. Deon and Zane ride the bus with me. I got friends at school though, but not really. I guess there’s Shana and Malik and Sonny and Trey, but they’re more of Bri’s friends than mine.”

  
  


“Are you okay with that?”

  
  


“Huh?”

  
  


“Why don’t you have your own friends at school, why are they all your girlfriend’s friends?”

  
  


“Well… there’s not a lot of black kids at the school, and the white kids don’t get me.”

  
  


“You need to make friends Curtis.”

  
  


“I have friends Ma. Jeez, I ain’t hardly seen you, and you’re already telling me what to do.”

  
  


“I’m sorry Curtis; I don’t mean to be pushy. I just worry about my baby.”  _ More than you can understand. Being in here doesn’t mean I don’t worry about you baby. I worry so much. _

  
  


“I’m gonna graduate soon. You should come.”

  
  


“I want to, if your grandmother will have me, I’ll be there.”

  
  


“Good.” Curtis takes a serious pause. “I want you to be a part of my life. I want you to come to my graduation, so don’t do anything that you’ll get in trouble for when they let you out. Do what your parole officer tells you even if you hate ‘em. If you want to be a part of my life, don’t do anything to end up here again.”

  
  


“I won’t,” Deja says earnestly. “I love you more than life, and I won’t get put back here again. I swear.”

  
  


“Good.”

  
  


“So, you going to college?”

  
  


“You’re not serious are you?”

  
  


“I am. College is important.”

  
  


“You didn’t go.”

  
  


“I wish I had. So are you?”

  
  


“Does Garden Heights Community College count?”

  
  


“Yes.”

  
  


“Then yes. It’s not that big a deal though.”

  
  


“You’re the first in the family to go to college, it is a big deal.”

  
  


Curtis smiled. “I’m really glad I came to visit you. It feels real good to have my mom as my hype man.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God I miss going to school. I mean I hate school, but Covid-19 interrupted my senior year. Meaning no senior activities or graduation. Meaning that just went to school one day, still kinda out of it because of a recent surgery, they said spring break's starting early. Then they decided to cancel school after school. So I didn't get to say goodbye to a whole bunch of people I'll probably never see again. I'm not super sad about it or crying a lot at all. It's not like graduation is a huge life event I'd been looking forward to and now will never get to enjoy. Anyone in the class of 2020, from hs or college/university/whatever, you are strong and tough and I feel your pain because it is my pain.
> 
> At least Curtis and Bri get to graduate.
> 
> Also related, I played through Life is Strange just because it was set at a high school. It's a good game.

**Author's Note:**

> This is gonna get a chapter 2 followup obviously


End file.
